i just noticed this thread, nice write up. i did not have a chance to read all 6 pages but i would like to say 1 thing:
the average life span of an anemone in the wild is between 50 and 70 years. so far very few aquarist managed to keep an anemone in captivity over 5 years. so for the people that consider themselves to have success in keeping a nem for 3 or even 5 years, you are wrong and you failed miserably. imho anemones are not suitable for captivity. imagine how many clownfish you are killing by taking it out of the ocean. and comparing it to the human life its like killing a 5 years old child or at best a 10 year old, imagine how much this creature still have to give to nature if left alone.

heh, well thanks for telling all of us to just give up and quit trying- were that the case- there would be no such thing as marine aquaria at all. If we left nature alone you wouldnt be here complaining- I'll bet you have a tank- don't you?

This hobbie isnt very old, are you aware of that?

You might consider hugging a tree, they are tall and strong, and guess what - they never complain, pretty rare to over water them and they can never get to much light.

How's that for easy?

Nothing unnatural is easy, nor is it free- it takes work and effort, do you think we that keep such critters want them to die?

What will you say when we learn how to keep them 10 years- 20 years? I am pushing 5 years on a bubble tip- think I will make it to 10- I wouldnt bet against it.

well you can be bitter about that as much as you want, but facts are still facts. if you managed to keep a anemone for 5 years congrats you are 1 of 100 people keeping a nem. did you consider the other 99 that are killing it in 6-12 months?
till our knowledge of anemone keeping reaches a point where success is more likely to happen lets keep nem raising to the scientists.
until i see a nem labeled aquacultured i wont be willing to experiment with them. but this is just me, the tree hugger.

Can you not say the same of Marine Aquaria on the whole for the same reasoning you are using, at some point in this hobbie?

Yea, I have and so have the other members that post here- what do you think were are trying to do - kill anemone's? Surely I hope not.

What one man can do, so too can another- learn by example. Science is US, understand this, there is no science w/o people like us leading the way.

And no I am not bitter, just teaching myself, and learning from other fine people how to do something that science isn't is a hurry to teach us- perhaps, your view point is skewed a shade.

If you do not try, then there is no definitive answer, I need science, but what I need more importantly, is personal experience- this either proves sicence correct, or disproves what science promotes as truth.

Seriously! your example is the mad scientist?
my point is in this matter is simple, just be considerate to nature.
raising a nem is not a mystery and we know what they want. and until we can provide exactly what they want let them be.
anemones require pristine conditions, perfection in parameters, light and water current. could you tell me how many time in a 10 year span you will miss a water change, bulb change, temperature swing, powerhead malfunction, over feed .....
can you provide enough room for them so they can find more than 1 favorable spot in your aquarium?
there is so many variables and the accumulation of mistakes are leading to a short lifespan.
if you want to take on this challenge go ahead but b4 know what are you getting into.

My experience is that you either get one that's gonna live or you get one one that's gonna die soon after you introduce it into your tank. I've had 3 that died within days, and in retrospect they were showing bad signs I was just to green to realize it.

As far as pristine water parameters are concerned, I wouldn't call my parameters "pristine" by any stretch, because don't have an ATO nor do I run a Ca reactor, so there are some parameter swings between water changes which happen about every 6 weeks (30%) and top-offs.

Lighting is a NEP running 4 ATI, 1 Gmann and 1 UVL lamps.

I attribute my success to a mature setup, Seachem Reef Salt + RODI, plenty of water flow and a host clown for the Seabae and LTA.

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